Michael Grimm Photography

Bahamas

2012-01-21T10:41:00.000-08:00

just back from a shoot in the Bahamas for Starwood Hotel and Resorts.....here some behind the scenes shots:

assistant Jon and models Johan and Renee..great team!

Design Bureau

2012-01-21T10:34:00.000-08:00

Monika Chiang

2011-11-21T13:13:00.001-08:00

http://monikachiang.com/

Barbados

2011-07-16T15:41:00.000-07:00

My second shoot for The Crane Hotel on Barbados. The week went by quickly and we are all thrilled with the results.
Super nice models, assistant/crew and client....a total pleasure! And it could have been very different. Bad weather and a terrible plague of sea moss washed onto the beaches did not make for a good start of the shoot. But in the end it all worked out beautifully.
And now we are enjoying the island, driving around, sampling some bajan cuisine and getting to know the locals....

Interiors

2011-06-14T13:39:00.000-07:00

just back from a shoot for Architect Cecil Baker. Beautiful setting in Sag Harbor...

Ruth Reichl for Gilt Taste

2011-06-06T12:00:00.002-07:00

The Sands Hotel in Mauritius

2011-04-03T19:01:00.000-07:00

a few images from my shoot for the Sands Hotel in Mauritius....

Mauritius

2011-03-16T01:30:00.000-07:00

After spending about 24 hours in airports and planes I have landed in Mauritius and arrived at my (beautiful) hotel. Thankfully I have a few day's off to recover before the models arrive and we get to work...

Vanessa Trouble

2011-01-19T10:11:00.000-08:00

Jazz Singer Vanessa Trouble and The Central Park Stompers performed at Swing 46 the other night and I had the pleasure of taking some photos during their performance.

Magazine Cover

2011-01-10T07:27:00.000-08:00

A finish travel magazine with my photo on the cover. Shot at the Standard Miami Hotel.

2010-12-22T08:57:00.001-08:00

Portrait

2010-12-20T13:22:00.000-08:00

The lovely Sarah Firshein, Editor at Curbed National.

Aroma

2010-12-09T12:34:00.000-08:00

Now that it's cold outside it might be a good idea to head over to Aroma on East 4th Street, sit at the cozy bar and have a glass of wine and a delicious bowl of pasta. If you go, say hello to Vito for me!
More food images in my Archive.

Vito in action!

Vito and Alexandra

At the Metropolitan Museum of Art

2010-11-29T10:52:00.000-08:00

Prospect Park

2010-11-16T09:00:00.000-08:00

in Spring, Fall and Winter....

Coturri Winery

2010-11-01T08:22:00.000-07:00

I had the great pleasure of spending a few day's with Tony Coturri at his winery in late October.

His place is near Glen Ellen, a small town in the Sonoma Valley. A working farm, totally unpretentious, honest and real. They only thing they seem to care about is making great wine from organic grapes...using nothing but the grapes and natural yeasts.

And the handful of men working there are equally unpretentious and real. From Luciano, a proud father of 9 who has worked with Tony for 20 years to Bill, the barrel master for 28 years and Nic, Tony's son and next in line to keep the family tradition going that was started back in 1979.

And when you drink his wine you can taste all that and more...

Tony was a gracious host who let me have a glimpse into his world of winemaking and I thank him for that.....and for the delicious oatmeal he made every morning!

Coturri Winery from Michael Grimm on Vimeo.

Road Trip....

2010-10-26T15:55:00.000-07:00

from Mendocino to San Francisco. Beautiful coastline, even in fog and rain.
For more go to my Archive.

Sailing

2010-10-12T22:23:00.000-07:00

20 knot winds, fog, rain and sun, we had it all on our 6 day journey from Shelter Island to Cuttyhunk, a small island just south of Martha’s Vineyard. We stopped on Block Island and other magical places along the coast, had fantastic meals on the deck and went for frequent swims. This trip has become a yearly summer excursion that I am looking forward to all year.....
A big thanks to my mates Jonathan and Amnon for their camaraderie and good spirits.

Sailing on the Sachem from Michael Grimm on Vimeo.

Food

2010-09-29T09:04:00.000-07:00

a short montage of recent food footage that I shot for the Cooking Chanel...

Food from Michael Grimm on Vimeo.

"People and their Boats" HC&G August 2010

2010-08-16T13:08:00.000-07:00

new music video

2010-08-12T05:09:00.000-07:00

finally, the video I shot this past winter has been released....

Lucius Music Video from Michael Grimm on Vimeo.

Hamptons, Cottages and Gardens Magazine

2010-07-23T10:35:00.000-07:00

Bastille Day

2010-07-19T16:11:00.000-07:00

Every year, for one day, my neighborhood in Brooklyn turns into a french town.
Pernod, Lillet, Petanque and vive la France!

The North Fork of Long Island

2010-07-09T09:21:00.000-07:00

My favorite part of Long Island. Wineries, farm stands, empty beaches and good restaurants.
here a few shots from last weekend, for more go to my Archive.
Love Lane Kitchen in Mattituck is one of my favorite restaurants. Shinn Estate Vineyards and Croteaux Vineyards are great for a visit and wine tasting.

Fog

2010-06-07T16:17:00.000-07:00

I love Fog. My favorite weather condition to shoot in. Mysterious, magical and moody.
This was shot in the Hamptons last week. I had just finished a long day of shooting Interiors.
Even though I was dead tired and looking forward to a good meal (and a drink!) I couldn't help but pull over and shoot for a while....glad I did.

nice view from a terrace in the west village

2010-06-01T15:27:00.000-07:00

Mexico

2010-05-09T06:04:00.000-07:00

Sometimes it takes me a while to appreciate a photograph I took.
Not sure exactly why that is, but it seems time has something to do with it.
This morning I looked through some shots from a trip to Mexico City and found these.
I remember the little girl very well. Her father sold art on a flea market. Well, that's what I assumed anyway. I speak only very little spanish and they spoke no english. But somehow we communicated and they happily agreed for me take a picture. With my old Nikon. and film!

Corporate Portraits

2010-04-20T10:27:00.000-07:00

My latest assignment was to portrait the partners at a private equity firm here in New York City. Instead of the usual business portraits we decided to shoot them "in action". Here are some of my favorites:

new preview feature for Blurb Books

2010-03-23T15:31:00.000-07:00

Portfolio by Michael Grimm

Papua New Guinea

2010-03-14T17:35:00.000-07:00

These photos are from my trip to PNG in 1997. Seems like such a long time ago. Especially when I think about the way I was working back then, in the dark ages of film. I had my Hasselblad, a 80mm lens, a lightmeter and a bag full of film.

What stands out most from this trip was the day I spent flying with a missionary pilot through the highlands. We stopped at maybe 4 or 5 small landing strips that seemed to suddenly appear out of nowhere. Even before we landed we could see people coming out of the bush to watch and get ready to greet us. Once we were on the ground we would be surrounded by friendly and curious people. And they really got a kick out of me and my camera. I could see in their faces that mixture of curiosity and shyness, that usually very quickly gave away to laughter.

Oh, and then there was some sort of attempted coup by a paramilitary group. We watched trucks filled with armed men driving by the hotel in Madang.
But that’s a whole other story......

Papua New Guinea from Michael Grimm on Vimeo.

with music by Ry Cooder and Ali Farka Toure
get it here

"everybody can be a Photographer"

2010-03-11T15:13:00.000-08:00

I read this a lot these day's. And of course it's true. It has never been easier to take a decent photo. Digital Cameras are getting better and cheaper every year. It's getting easier to retouch photos, correct colors, enhance colors, make them look like film from the 70's or any number of other special effects with the push of a button, and then edit it and put it all on a good looking website; in no time and for (relative) little money. Of course, making a living with it, is another question entirely.

I learned (the craft of) photography in Germany (Düsseldorf) by being an apprentice to a photographer for 3 years. I got paid very little, worked incredible long hours on anything from car shoots to fashion to catalogs. Sometimes, literally, all night long. But I learned a lot, had fun and once a week I went also to photography school to study darkroom technique and other essentials. And then I had to pass a test that was part written and part photography assignments, which were then evaluated by the teachers. All that got me a certificate stating that I was ready to be an assistant Photographer! (and I have to idea were that darn thing is!)
So of I went, assisting Photographers like Hartmut Kiefer and Dieter Eickelpoth. The pay was better and I also got to travel a bit through Europe, shooting in places like Paris, London, etc.
About 3 years later I had enough, packed my bags and went on a vacation to New York City. (that was in 1988, guess I am still on that vacation!)
So it took me about 6 years to learn in Germany, and then another year or so in NY (with the great Norman Parkinson, among others), before I thought I could make a living being a Photographer.

Of course none of that guarantees that I take a better photo then anybody else, it's just my particular journey....

and here are a couple of souvenirs from my day's with Parks:

Blogs

2010-03-08T07:12:00.000-08:00

sometimes other people/blogs write about me and only much later will I find out, like in this case.
desire to inspire is a blog about interior design, architecture, stylists and photographers.
here is the rest.

Wonderful Machine

2010-03-02T15:10:00.000-08:00

I joined Wonderful Machine for marketing support and representation.

Here a quote from them:

"Ultimately, we intend to be a full-service, global photo agency with a web site that will be a primary destination for art buyers seeking high quality commercial and editorial photographers. We expect to max out at 50 cities in North America by the end of the year, then expand to other major markets around the world. We will have a select number of photographers in each location and no two alike. Though we will be as exclusive as possible with the photographers we choose, we will not require that our photographers work with us exclusively. Striking the right balance - in quality, quantity, specialty, and geography - will make us a logical first stop for clients.

We've created a business model that is unique in the industry, and it's one that we think will provide our photographers with the best possible bang for their marketing buck. It's a hybrid, combining elements of a web portal with those of full-service artist representation."

Miami

2010-03-02T14:20:00.000-08:00

just back from a quick trip to Miami Beach. Always a nice Winter getaway...

Bailey House Benefit

2010-03-01T17:08:00.000-08:00

donated a print to the Bailey House Benefit and Russell Halley from Halley Resources won it.
more of my Black and White work here.

Prospect Park

2010-02-19T15:35:00.000-08:00

a couple of snaps from last weeks snow storm in Brooklyn. made everything beautiful.....

Music Video

2010-02-19T10:39:00.000-08:00

By 2012, 90% of Internet content transmitted will be motion video. —ASMP
not sure that this quote from a ASMP survey is accurate but it's going in that direction for sure.
So I bought the Canon 5D2 and started playing...
My first attempt was a fun little project documenting our yearly sailing trip with my friend JR. You can see it here. After that my friend Tika Buchanan approached me about doing a video for the opening of her new business ARKADIA. I posted it on this blog, just scroll down a bit….She got great responses, so I think it was a success.
And now I am working on a Music Video for Lucius, a great new band out of Brooklyn. Tika and I brainstormed for a few weeks about the story and then she made a story board which we followed. Luckily I found a great old Barn upstate which we were able to rent for a weekend. Not to go into to many details, but we worked pretty hard. Lots of night shots left us with very little sleep and during the day we were outside trying to catch some scenes in the snow. It amazes me how much footage you need to shoot to get a 4 min video!! And we are still not done. After I made a rough edit we realized that we were missing a number of shots to make this work.
Here a few stills from what we got so far. Stay tuned for the rest!

Fall Sunlight through my window

2009-11-10T11:40:00.000-08:00

Halloween in Brooklyn

2009-11-02T09:49:00.000-08:00

weekend in Vermont

2009-11-02T09:24:00.000-08:00

Promotional Video for Arkadia & Co.

2009-10-18T11:47:00.003-07:00

Arkadia from Michael Grimm on Vimeo.

This video was shot in late august. We worked on this for about 2 weeks, plus countless hours of editing.
Music is by Anna Wayland and editing by Brian Gauthier. My first experience with the Canon 5DmarkII. Great camera, easy to use. Good Luck to Alberta and Tika at Arkadia & Co. !!

New Book with my Photography

2009-10-18T11:38:00.000-07:00

A new Book on (speed) decorating just came out.....! We shot this last summer, mostly on Shelter Island and also a few projects here in the city. Read about Jill Vegas here. We used lots of art from a local Gallery. You can buy the book at Amazon.

Secret Garden

2009-07-20T08:00:00.001-07:00

Summit Street Garden, my favorite community Garden where we hang out in the summer and have great BBQ's. This is a shot of Esme, my favorite little girl!

Standard Miami Hotel

2009-07-09T06:31:00.001-07:00

a couple of nice Ad's from the Standard Hotel using photos I shot for Luxury Spa Finder Magazine (now sadly gone..) to see the rest of the shoot go to my Archive.

on a Shoot for HC&G in Sagaponack.....

2009-06-30T04:59:00.000-07:00

with my favorite editor, the amazing Sophie Donelson!

Rainy day in Brooklyn

2009-06-19T13:21:00.000-07:00